When people envision the remodel or construction of their new home, among the first rooms to come to mind are the bathroom and kitchen. When it comes to designing a new residence, few rooms of a project garner as much need for personalized attention as the kitchen and bath areas. This is largely due to the core functions of these spaces; to cleanse and nourish both body and mind in a safe and functional space. It is true that any bathroom or kitchen will work in a pinch. But when it comes to making a home that truly feels and functions as your own, these individually-intimate spaces also hold a need to be geared towards their specific resident in a number of unique ways.
With Intentional Service being one of our core values at AGD, we strive as designers to learn and respond to our clients’ needs and desires for these areas of their homes; and how they can relate to the project as a whole. Some of the largest priorities in these spaces stem from client’s needs such as personalized accessibility, aesthetic desires, and inspirations found from the internet and real-world experiences that lead them to lay the foundation of what will make these spaces fitting to their individual lifestyles.
Both kitchens and bathrooms are, at their core, some of the most highly-trafficked areas of a home. Considering an average of three meals per day (especially during our current period of a work-from-home lifestyle), and numerous restroom visits for various purposes as well, they have more frequent use and visitation by a home’s residents than a bedroom or truly even an entry door threshold. Thus, accessibility is often a key player in making these spaces work well for their residents. These rooms must not only fit any unique physical needs of the residents that will use them in terms of movement, space and maneuverability, but also be organized in the larger home as to compliment the functions of other rooms. Proximity to similar functions for convenience, and isolation from irrelevant spaces drive organizations of homes to pair spaces like dining rooms to kitchens, and bathrooms to bedrooms and other frequently-occupied spaces.
Not only at AGD, but in our field as a whole, the enhanced priority on these spaces calls for a need for detail that can be seen by the time and resources put into the design of kitchen and bath spaces. For one, they are some of the only rooms that often necessitate Interior Elevation design drawings to convey the multitude of personalized tile and cabinetry work, along with unique appliances and fixtures that make each room much more than a one-size-fits-all space. Through drafting and construction, this is one of the key tools that can be used with clients to fine-tune their desires for these spaces to fit their lifestyle; whether that be a need for a kitchen with a twelve-burner stove or bathroom with two toilets.
All this being said does not dictate a need for expensive or extravagant design for these areas of someone’s home though. While many social media platforms and lifestyle media are flooded with images of luxurious bathrooms and kitchens that alone cost a small fortune, many of the functional and aesthetic design elements can be found at a much more reasonable cost and a more practical design. In our practice, we work with our clients to help weed out the deeper interests and needs that exist in these inspirations to provide the best space for them at the proper cost and level of detail.
Whether a person lives in a freestanding house, multi-family housing residence, mobile residence, or anything in between, it is impossible to deny the universal need for kitchen and bath spaces to be a proper fit, form, and function to make the space truly feel like a home. As such, it should always be a key attention-area of planning, consideration, and attention when looking into a remodel or new home.
Written by Evan Ricaurté
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